mætan – Old English verb conjugation

Old English verb forms of mætan

Infinitive

mǣtan
mǣtenne

Participles

Presentmǣtende
Past(ġe)mǣted

Indicative

Present

3rd sing.mǣteþ; mǣtt; mǣt

Past

3rd sing.mǣtte

Subjunctive

Present

1st sing.mǣte
2nd sing.mǣte
3rd sing.mǣte

Past

1st sing.mǣtte
2nd sing.mǣtte
3rd sing.mǣtte

Imperative

Verbs conjugated like 'mætan'

mætan,

Verbs similar to 'mætan'

bætan, hætan, lætan, mælan, mænan, mæran, mæstan, metan, motan, tætan,

Etymology

From an earlier sense meaning "to paint, sculpt, design," from Proto-West Germanic *maitijan (“to cut”), from Proto-Germanic *maitaną. Doublet of mētan (“to paint, sculpt, design”). The semantic shift of "to paint, sculpt, design" > "to dream" is likely analogical, i.e. a dream being likened to a series of images being painted for the dreamer (hence its impersonal use). See: Proto-Germanic '*maitaną'.

Verbs referencing "mætan"

English met.

Sample Sentences

  • Þonne hē slǣpþ, þonne mǣt hine be þē ānre. (When he sleeps, he only dreams about you.)
  • late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 42:9 (Then Joseph remembered the dreams that he'd had at some point before.)

Cognates

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